Blog on! It’s day two and while I’ve come up with a ton of other stuff to say about the Help (including how much the author looks like a  friend of mine) I do need to make mention of the second book we read before introducing—and really moving through, with you, readers—our third book for the month of December.

Oh…seriously! I can’t stand it. Check out author, Kathryn Stockett on the left and my friend, Kristina, on the right.

Amazing or what? Both are beautiful women! Kristina is an LPN in Kamloops…wonderful, funny, smart, incredible mother, single…OK, back to books.

And because I just can’t let the Help go yet, one thing that invoked a lot of chatter among the LOL…the cover of the novel. Personally, I am not a fan of covers that feature the actors starring in the movie version. For one thing, clearly the book was written before the movie was made, for another, if you haven’t read the novel yet, you can’t help but envision the actors in the characters’ roles and let’s be honest, that colours (absolutely no pun intended) your perception of them. It’s a marketing ploy and while I get it, I don’t like it. That said, I am not a big fan of the purple cover featuring the birds either. I kept thinking, “Were there birds in this book? Are they symbolic (of course) of something deeper?” Anyway, thumbs down to the birdies from my point of view, and frankly from plenty of the LOL too. For more details, check out our Cheers! Ratings, but just for fun, here’s a few images of different covers. I’ve never seen the one featuring the maids, but I like it! What do you think?

Movie cover

So, following the Help, we read another book that turned out to be a quick, easy, and ultimately enjoyable read:  The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich.

Let’s start by saying 5 LOL Cheers! Just for being sort-of Canadian. She was born in Buffalo but makes her home in Vancouver, which leads me to believe she married one of our good Canadian men? Anyone know? Anyway, we sip to Roberta. Even if she is a lawyer…see my inaugural column in Okanagan Woman to understand this comment.

It is no surprise, my friend and writing partner and fellow LOL’er, Laura, selected Roberta’s book because Laura is not only an aspiring novelist, she is also a lawyer! Yet I love her. Laura lives in a gorgeous house on the lake in Kelowna but she’s not there that often. She and hubby Don, can be found in any number of exciting locations around the world at any given time. A big traveler, Laura has an even bigger heart. We met through a mutual friend at a writing group and instantly established that connection that goes way beyond rapport. She’s deep into the draft of her first novel, a murder mystery that involves a beautiful nun, a hot young intern lawyer and a brilliant, feisty female protagonist (also a lawyer). I’m hooked already. Even if they are lawyers.

Laura also writes about her travels and I’m encouraging her to send out her stuff for publication because she’s not only talented, but her stories, including one about her first, “virgin” Iron Man experience, are so engaging and informative and funny, just like her. The meeting chez Laura featured fabulous food (put my Costco selections to shame) and wonderful wine, lots of laughter, and an apple cake with a caramel sauce so yummy, I’d  like to see it passed around, in bowls, at the next meeting.

Anyway, check out Roberta Rich’s website http://robertarich.com/

for details about he,  including how she fell in love with Venice, visited the Jewish ghetto, and envisioned this very intriguing tale about a 16^th century midwife who commits a crime by saving a Christian noblewoman and her baby.

Cover in Turkey

Check out the LOL review of this book for details about what the ladies thought of this novel. I personally enjoyed it very much. The story was a great concept, the writing light, funny, and smooth to read. In other words, I thought the words had lovely flow and found Roberta Rich to be a talented writer, whose work I enjoyed. The characters were wonderfully rich and colourful. I think all the ladies fell in love with the charming, wizard of words, Isaac; Perhaps Roberta’s dream man incarnated in her work? The nun was a hoot and I expect we will get to know her well in the sequel. And of course, the protagonist, Hannah Levi, was strong, smart, feisty, and admirable in her undying love for her husband. She did, however, commit another crime early on in the novel that I won’t go into details about here (spoiler) that I didn’t quite buy…and I would agree with many of the LOL, that act, along with a multitude of other exciting, page-turning events, seemed rather contrived and conveniently placed to keep the reader going. Possibly the biggest disappointment was the ending. All agreed it was terribly convenient, had some super unbelievable aspects, unanswered events, and came together just a little too nicely. Several members commented they felt the author was “done” with her own book and just wanted to wrap it up. New, unnecessary characters were introduced, while others were inexplicably dropped, never to be heard from again (perhaps in the sequel?).

UK Cover

All that said…The Midwife of Venice is worth picking up for a light and entertaining read and I think Roberta Rich will only grow as a writer, perhaps addressing some of the plot holes and easy fixes, so that her story is ultimately as strong as her adept use of language.

USA Cover

Just for fun, here are some of the covers being used internationally for this novel. The LOL agreed; the Canadian cover (above) is gorgeous! What do you think?

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Holy flip…I’m flipping out. This is my first blog post—like ever. I’ve been writing professionally for several years but it was time to get bloggin’. I can wax on with the drippiest of them, but here’s how this blog is going to go:

At the beginning of each month I’ll introduce that month’s book, offering a synopsis and some thoughts on the selection.

From there onward, Mondays will be What’s it all about Mondays in which I discuss the book as it relates to our lives; Wednesdays will be Wordy Wednesdays, in which I write about the book and characters and anything else; Free-For-All-Fridays will include reviews, links to other sites, author interviews, guest bloggers, the fabulous new pair of shoes I bought…and anything else…

I’ll always post following our monthly meeting, held at the home of the LOL member who chose that book. Stay tuned for gossip, recipes, wine recommendations, LOL’s review of the book, news on shoes and sales…

I look forward to you, my readers, interacting with me and chatting about the books as we read them. Please let me know what’s working and never mind what’s not…lol.

Stay tuned for the launch of our latest novel, Monday, December 5th.  Meanwhile, I thought I’d let you know what we’ve already read.

The Help: by Kathryn Stockett
http://www.kathrynstockett.com/stockett-synopsis.htm

Who hasn’t read the Help (except the hostess, Karen?) Seriously, KP is one of my dearest friends and I dare you not to love her. But like any good book club, it is obligatory for one member to be a reluctant reader. Because she is my friend and because she loves to eat and drink red wine, KP was a high-heeled shoe in for LOL but she did warn me, “I’m only joining your book club because I don’t have to read the book.” The fact she hadn’t even finished her own selection was, well…a reason to lol.

Side note: As of this blog, she has now completed—and enjoyed—the book.

She was a trooper, however, because she and co-host, Bonnie, spent countless hours at the counter, preparing homemade, phyllo-wrapped, empanadas and the wine was plentiful. KP lives in a lovely heritage house, skipping steps from the lake, in downtown Kelowna. Warm, cozy, oh, so pretty—just like KP herself—she is always the hostess with the mostest. This is a woman who irons (I know) her sheets. But that is the kind of care Karen puts in and it’s exactly why she’s loved and admired. She has a great sense of self-effacing humor and loves to say the wrong thing, rather like myself and anyway, who doesn’t appreciate how the conversation is no longer careful after a carafe or two or three?
Something I found interesting about the Help. From my perspective, having lived in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, for 5 years… it was an expectation that expats would hire domestic help, often from places like India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. I may be politically incorrect but here’s the truth: five years and five maids later, I know first-hand, there is a sympathetic, other side, of “the help”. Being the employer is not always easy, even if someone else is scrubbing the abode. Being Canadian, I had no idea how to manage my “help”. More often than the other way around, I would make our first employee, Nirmala, tea and insist she sit down. We always treated our maids with respect and paid them well, but it did neither of us any good for me to be “too nice” (read: meek and apologetic, embarrassed even) about what needed to be done for the salary to be legitimately earned. At the end of the day, I was the employer and the maid was the employee and as such, a respectable, fair, and clear, business-like approach was in order. Of course, the situation in the Help is more about injustice and racism…quite a different thing.

Anyway, for fun, here’s a link to one of the columns I wrote about my own experience: “Desperate Housemaids.”

As for the novel, the Help, I personally LOVED this book…fine, fast-paced writing, plenty of humor, great characters, an uplifting and inspiring story. The movie was pretty good too, but as always, never quite the same, nor quite as good, as the book.

Interested in reading LOL’s review? The LOL Cheers! rating system coming soon!

Tomorrow–Friday–I’ll word on with a little more about the Help and a lot more about our second book. Stay tuned.

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